


as a weapon

by kareofbears



Series: Escapril [28]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Angst, Gen, Introspection, Persona 5 royal spoilers!, but not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:48:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23899264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kareofbears/pseuds/kareofbears
Summary: Akira pauses. Turning off the stove, he grabs a dish towel and wipes his hands before rounding the corner."Didn't expect you to be here."In front of him, Akechi sits in the booth, a coy smile on his face. "Of course you didn't. I figure I'd say farewell before I take my leave."
Relationships: Akechi Goro & Kurusu Akira
Series: Escapril [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1685116
Kudos: 44





	as a weapon

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT: hold up! This fic ended up being a prototype of what eventually became a [much longer and more fleshed out fic,](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25258477/chapters/61233496) so consider reading that one instead! I was intending on taking this one down, but since it has a little bit of bookmarks I'd feel bad for those people who might want to come back to it.  
> 
> 
> this really does spoil persona 5 royal so please be careful!!

The door to Leblanc chimes as Akira's cooking curry. After finishing Maruki's palace with no problems whatsoever, Ryuji enthusiastically texted him saying that they should celebrate, just the two of them. 

"Go away, Ryuji, I'm not done yet. How did you get here so fast?"

"Trains are very efficient."

Akira pauses. Turning off the stove, he grabs a dish towel and wipes his hands before rounding the corner. 

"Didn't expect you to be here."

In front of him, Akechi sits in the booth, a coy smile on his face. "Of course you didn't. I figure I'd say farewell before I take my leave."

Grabbing two mugs from underneath the counter, he picks up the coffee pot. "No, you didn't."

"No, of course I didn't," he confirms as Akira goes to slide Akechi one of the mugs. "Thank you."

Shooting a quick text to Ryuji telling him not to come over for now, he pockets his phone and turns his attention back to Akechi. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I'll make this quick." He leans forward. "Maruki's offer."

Akira considers feigning ignorance, to pretend he doesn't know what on earth Akechi could be talking about. But tricking him once had been impossible enough. It would take a miracle to do it again.

"I thought about it," he says, stirring his coffee. "Accepting it, I mean."

Akechi quirks a brow. "I thought so. I'm a little surprised. I always thought that the one thing we have in common is our tenacity. In the face of the most ruthless situation, neither of us would back down first. To think that you even considered it is...unexpected."

"That's true. At first, when he proposed to us that he'd give a week to make us change our minds, i immediately thought, 'hell no.' And yeah, seeing the rest of them enjoy themselves really shook me" he smiles, albeit bitterly. "Seeing Ryuji smile like that almost did it for me, actually."

He rolls his eyes. "Your point?"

"Right." Akira takes a sip of his coffee before continuing. "Even after all that, i still knew what we had to do. Maruki's reality has to be stopped, there's no doubt about it. But then I thought about it, as I'm sure you must've as well."

Akechi's eyes squint infinitesimally. "What are you getting at?"

"Why you, me, and Sumire weren't affected," Akira leans back. "I mean, why us? You and me, I could understand. Wielding multiple Personas could be a key factor in our immunity. But there's no real way to justify Sumire. So I thought about it."

Propping his head on his hand, he looks at Akira. "And your conclusion?" 

"Sumire was easy. She didn't have a wish because hers was already granted: to be Kasumi. She didn't want anything else, or have a desire to change the past since she already has what she wants the most. So, she stays unaffected."

"Obviously."

"I already knew why I wasn't affected ever since he explained the premise," Akira reaches up to tugs at his bangs. "'Grant any wish,' was it? But by that point, you have to understand, I just saved the world with my friends, my family at my side. I found a place to belong, a place where not only have people accepted me, but I've come to accept myself. I came to terms to accept what had happened to me, my situation," his smile this time was much softer, much more delicate. "I didn't have anything to wish for, so it makes sense that my reality wasn't changed."

Akechi barks a laugh. "You're much more sentimental than you look."

He shrugs. "Can't argue with that."

"And for me?"

Akira stares at him. "Do you have any ideas?"

"Of course I do. But despite everything, you still prove to have an interesting mind. I'd like to hear what you think."

"This one is more of a theory than anything," he taps on the table absentmindedly. "I really had to think about everything you've told me about yourself. Your past, your mother, your father. Everything you worked towards. Every crime you've committed, every sin you've done. I'll only ever know a fraction of it."

Akira looks down at his coffee. "You've worked for everything you have. You've fought tooth and nail, bled for what you have. Life had never budged an inch for you, and so you never expected it now. And that's why you were untouched by Maruki's idea of granting wishes," he looks up, gray eyes boring into red ones. "Because you never, not once in your entire life, let yourself wish for anything."

For a moment, Akechi doesn't say anything. And then he laughs. "You never cease to surprise me, Joker. You're right, as much as I hate to admit it. My theory is the same as well." His finger idly traces the rim of his coffee.. "Though to think that you'd be foolish enough to even consider his offer for something so juvenile."

"Would it have been foolish?" Akira asks, genuinely curious. "To want to see you happy, I mean."

Akechi rolls his eyes. "Do you really need me to answer that?"

"I guess not. But there was a part of me that just wanted you to let yourself wish, even for a second," Akira's eyes shift to the painting of Sayuri in the corner of the cafe. "To let yourself find peace, for once in your life."

"Oh, Kurusu," Akechi scoffs. "That's the difference between you and I. Your willingness to subject yourself to sentimentality is a weakness I refuse to let myself succumb to. Unfortunately, in the end, it became your strength as well."

"So it really never interested you? The idea of Maruki's peace."

Akechi stares at Akira, seeing only honesty in his eyes. "If the peace was not created by my own two hands, then it will only once again be taken away from me by some way; whether it's through someone like my father, or some other criminal out there, or perhaps even a group like the Phantom Thieves. Either way, the cycle continues. So no—if peace is simply handed to me, I will not accept it. I will never accept it."

Pushing his sleeve up, he peers down at his watch. "It's getting late, I should leave." He gets up, putting on his coat.

"Where will you go?" 

He turns to see Akira looking at him with that same expression. "There's truly nothing more annoying in the world than seeing how damn earnest you are. It pisses me off."

"Where will you go?" he repeats, insistent.

Akechi rolls his eyes. "What, are you gonna offer me a room? Hope that I can eventually see the way your little group works and melt my ice-cold heart, is that it?"

Akira stays silent, while Akechi walks towards the door.

"Telling you what I do afterwards was never part of the deal," Akechi places a hand on the doorknob, and stops. "I'll only say this once." he turns. "You could be doing more, Akira,. You don't have to stay in this tiny, shitty cafe just because some people showed you mercy and comfort."

Akira smiles, small and soft and a little sad. "I found my peace here, Akechi. All I want is for you to find yours."

Akechi shakes his head before wrenching the door open. 

For a brief moment, it seems like he wants to say something else. Like the words are on the tip of his tongue, ready to admit what's on his mind. Akira waits on baited breath, waiting, hoping. And then Akechi shakes his head once more, and walks out without another word. 

Sighing, he leans back against the cushion, looking up at the wooden ceiling for a few minutes, collecting himself. That may be the last time he'll ever see Akechi, and he failed, once again, to save him. But in the depths of his heart, he knows that Akechi would never want to be saved by someone else, would never accept salvation from anyone's hands other than his own. Instead, Akira thinks about how he found his own peace. How, despite the odds, he found his own salvation in the walls of a run-down cafe and countless people. And when that all got threatened to be taken away, how hard he fought to keep all of it.

 _Bzzt, bzzt._

Akira looks down, and sees that he got a text from Ryuji.

_you okay?_

For a second, Akira understands what Akechi means by never wanting to wish for anything at all; if what he has now got taken away, he doesn't think he'd be able to survive. 

He texts back.

_Yeah, I really am._

**Author's Note:**

> in this house we spit in the face of canon.  
> i actually meant to post something else but then i reached a certain point of the game and i realized theres no way in hell i could NOT write about it, so here we are now. This ended up being really long but thats ok! this entire fic is really just how I feel about akechi, and it doesn't even begin to cover what i think about him. someday ill write a full out fic about him, but today is not that day. thanks for reading :-)
> 
> edit: i never unlocked akechi's third level persona awakening, and i just watched it on youtube. if this fic seemed obvious, or that i was basically rehashing a conversation that was happening, its not. i truly did not know that scene in leblanc with maruki even existed.


End file.
